Abstract for scheffler_icassp2000

Proc. ICASSP, June 2000, Istanbul, Turkey.

PROBABILISTIC SIMULATION OF HUMAN-MACHINE DIALOGUES

K.H. Scheffler and S.J. Young

June 2000

The field of spoken dialogue systems has developed rapidly in recent
years. However, optimisation, evaluation and rapid development of
systems remain problematic. This paper describes a method of producing
a probabilistic simulation of mixed initiative dialogue with
recognition and understanding errors. Both user behaviour and system
errors are modelled using a data-driven approach, and the quality of
the simulations are evaluated by comparing them to real human-machine
dialogues.

The simulation system can be used to perform rapid evaluations of
prototype systems, thus aiding the development process. It is also
envisaged that it will be used as a tool for automation of dialogue
design.

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